Out of the Box » Buckingham Countyhttp://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box
Notes from the Archives at The Library of VirginiaWed, 21 Feb 2018 14:43:02 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.1New Images Added to the Lost Records Digital Collectionhttp://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2014/09/26/new-images-added-to-the-lost-records-digital-collection/
http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/2014/09/26/new-images-added-to-the-lost-records-digital-collection/#commentsFri, 26 Sep 2014 13:00:42 +0000http://www.virginiamemory.com/blogs/out_of_the_box/?p=8151
Additional document images from counties or incorporated cities classified as “Lost Records Localities” have been added to the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available on Virginia Memory. The bulk of the additions are copies of wills, deeds, and estate records of members of the Bell family from Buckingham County; these items were used as exhibits in the Nelson County Chancery Cause 1841-071, William Scruggs and wife, etc., versus Rebecca Branch, etc. The wills of Frederick Cabell, Dougald Ferguson, and William Woods–all recorded in Buckingham County and all exhibits in other Nelson County chancery suits–have been added as well. One document from Buckingham County was found in City of Lynchburg court records. It is an apprenticeship indenture dated 1812, made between Clough T. Amos and Betsy Scott, a free African American. Amos was to instruct Scott’s son Wilson “in the art and mystery of a waterman in navigating [the] James river above the falls at the city of Richmond.”

Documents from other Lost Records Localities used as exhibits in Middlesex County chancery suits have been added as well. They include the will of Edward Waller, recorded in Gloucester County; the wills of Patsy Wiatt and James Christian, recorded in King and Queen County; a deed between Henry Cooke and wife to William Taylor, recorded in King and Queen County; and the will and estate … read more »

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Additional document images from counties or incorporated cities classified as “Lost Records Localities” have been added to the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available on Virginia Memory. The bulk of the additions are copies of wills, deeds, and estate records of members of the Bell family from Buckingham County; these items were used as exhibits in the Nelson County Chancery Cause 1841-071, William Scruggs and wife, etc., versus Rebecca Branch, etc. The wills of Frederick Cabell, Dougald Ferguson, and William Woods–all recorded in Buckingham County and all exhibits in other Nelson County chancery suits–have been added as well. One document from Buckingham County was found in City of Lynchburg court records. It is an apprenticeship indenture dated 1812, made between Clough T. Amos and Betsy Scott, a free African American. Amos was to instruct Scott’s son Wilson “in the art and mystery of a waterman in navigating [the] James river above the falls at the city of Richmond.”

Documents from other Lost Records Localities used as exhibits in Middlesex County chancery suits have been added as well. They include the will of Edward Waller, recorded in Gloucester County; the wills of Patsy Wiatt and James Christian, recorded in King and Queen County; a deed between Henry Cooke and wife to William Taylor, recorded in King and Queen County; and the will and estate accounts of John Stiff, recorded in Hanover County. Copies of two chancery causes heard in King and Queen County, Francis Wilson versus Heirs of Fanny C.C. Christian, etc., 1859, and Etheline Christian versus Fanny C.C. Christian, 1855, found in Middlesex County Chancery Causes 1881-013, have been added to the lost records digital collection also.

Other records will be added to the digital collection periodically as our archivists continue to identify “lost” documents in the records they process. Be sure to check back for future updates or watch the blog for announcements. For more information on the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection, see the earlier blog post “Finding What Was Lost.”

Additional images of documents from counties or incorporated cities classified as “Lost Records Localities” have been added to the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available on Virginia Memory. The bulk of the new addition consists of copies of wills from the following localities: Botetourt, Buckingham, Dinwiddie, Fairfax, Gloucester, Hanover, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Prince George, Prince William, Rockingham, and Spotsylvania counties. These wills were used as exhibits in Augusta County and City of Petersburg chancery causes. The index number of the chancery suit that the “Lost Record Locality” document appeared in is included in the catalog record. Be sure to search the Chancery Records Index for the chancery suit to learn how, for example, a will from King and Queen County recorded in 1749 ended up as an exhibit in an Augusta County chancery case that ended in 1819.

Also, images of Buckingham County (Va.) Tithable List A-G, 1764 have been added to the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection. Most of the early court records from Buckingham County were destroyed during a courthouse fire in 1869. The 1764 tithable list was spared destruction because, at the time of the fire, it was located in the Prince Edward County courthouse. From 1789 to 1809, Prince Edward County was the seat of a district court that heard civil and criminal suits … read more »

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Additional images of documents from counties or incorporated cities classified as “Lost Records Localities” have been added to the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection available on Virginia Memory. The bulk of the new addition consists of copies of wills from the following localities: Botetourt, Buckingham, Dinwiddie, Fairfax, Gloucester, Hanover, James City, King and Queen, King George, King William, Prince George, Prince William, Rockingham, and Spotsylvania counties. These wills were used as exhibits in Augusta County and City of Petersburg chancery causes. The index number of the chancery suit that the “Lost Record Locality” document appeared in is included in the catalog record. Be sure to search the Chancery Records Index for the chancery suit to learn how, for example, a will from King and Queen County recorded in 1749 ended up as an exhibit in an Augusta County chancery case that ended in 1819.

Also, images of Buckingham County (Va.) Tithable List A-G, 1764 have been added to the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection. Most of the early court records from Buckingham County were destroyed during a courthouse fire in 1869. The 1764 tithable list was spared destruction because, at the time of the fire, it was located in the Prince Edward County courthouse. From 1789 to 1809, Prince Edward County was the seat of a district court that heard civil and criminal suits from the following localities: Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Halifax, and Prince Edward counties. It’s possible the tithable list might have been an exhibit in a Buckingham County suit heard in the district court, but no style of suit or exhibit number is found on the document. More likely, the Buckingham County clerk was preparing either a large suit or a group of smaller suits to be heard in the Prince Edward County District Court, and he needed something to keep the bundle of documents together. The tithable list was the right size and so he used it as a wrapper for the bundle and sent it on to Prince Edward County, and there the tithable list remained until the Prince Edward County District Court records were transferred to the Library of Virginia and eventually discovered by one of our archivists. Perhaps due to the need of a wrapper, a valuable record from Buckingham County’s colonial era exists today and can now be viewed online.

Additional records will be added to the digital collection periodically as our archivists continue to identify “lost” documents in the records they process. Please check back as this is an ongoing project. For more information on the Lost Records Localities Digital Collection, see the earlier blog post “Finding What Was Lost.”

Digital images of Legislative Petitions to the Virginia General Assembly, 1776 to 1865, from Bath County through Essex County are now available on Virginia Memory, the Library of Virginia’s digital collections website. The list of localities added includes present-day West Virginia counties such as Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, and Doddridge Counties. It also includes numerous localities classified as Lost Records Localities such as Bland, Buckingham, Caroline, Charles City, Dinwiddie, and Elizabeth City Counties. With this addition, the number of legislative petitions available for viewing online currently number over 5000.

For researchers of African-American history and genealogy, the legislative petitions are an invaluable primary source on the topics of slavery, free African-Americans, and race relations prior to the Civil War. One will find petitions from slave owners seeking approval to import their slaves into the Commonwealth from another state; free African-Americans seeking permission to remain in the Commonwealth; heirs of slave owners seeking to prevent the emancipation of slaves freed by their parent’s will; free African-Americans seeking divorce from their spouse. The following are specific examples of the research potential on African-American history and genealogy that can be found in the collection.

John S. Harrison of Berkeley County petitioned the General Assembly in 1810 asking for permission to import three slaves, named Paris, Letty, and Daniel, from Maryland to Virginia. Harrison … read more »

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Digital images of Legislative Petitions to the Virginia General Assembly, 1776 to 1865, from Bath County through Essex County are now available on Virginia Memory, the Library of Virginia’s digital collections website. The list of localities added includes present-day West Virginia counties such as Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, and Doddridge Counties. It also includes numerous localities classified as Lost Records Localities such as Bland, Buckingham, Caroline, Charles City, Dinwiddie, and Elizabeth City Counties. With this addition, the number of legislative petitions available for viewing online currently number over 5000.

For researchers of African-American history and genealogy, the legislative petitions are an invaluable primary source on the topics of slavery, free African-Americans, and race relations prior to the Civil War. One will find petitions from slave owners seeking approval to import their slaves into the Commonwealth from another state; free African-Americans seeking permission to remain in the Commonwealth; heirs of slave owners seeking to prevent the emancipation of slaves freed by their parent’s will; free African-Americans seeking divorce from their spouse. The following are specific examples of the research potential on African-American history and genealogy that can be found in the collection.

John S. Harrison of Berkeley County petitioned the General Assembly in 1810 asking for permission to import three slaves, named Paris, Letty, and Daniel, from Maryland to Virginia. Harrison informed the General Assembly that he was a physician and that he moved from Maryland to Virginia to start a practice in Martinsburg. He planned to live in Virginia permanently. Virginia law prevented him from bringing his slaves with him; therefore, he had to leave his slaves with his father in Maryland. Harrison would not go into detail concerning “the inconvenience of his being deprived of the services of his slaves but will only state that his is a case of peculiar hardship.”

Eleanor Bowery, a slave owner who resided in Elizabeth City County, made a petition in 1788 for compensation for the services of her slave Cuffy during the Revolutionary War. Bowery informed the General Assembly that she enlisted Cuffy as a seaman for the term of three years “in the country’s service” on the galley Norfolk Revenge beginning in September 1777. When Cuffy’s enlistment period ended, Bowery never received a certificate from the ship’s captain John Calvert that proved Cuffy’s term of service. She needed the certificate in order to receive full payment for her slave’s service during the Revolutionary War as well as a bonus and interest due her. According to Bowery, Calvert could not give her the certificate because he lost the enlistment roll books and therefore could not remember when Cuffy enlisted. Bowery included in her petition an affidavit from a witness who did remember when Cuffy enlisted. She also included an exhibit that listed Cuffy’s term of service and how much she should have been compensated.

Following the Nat Turner revolt in 1831, there were numerous petitions sent to the General Assembly from citizens throughout the commonwealth demanding legislators to do something about the “colored population,” both slave and free. One notable example can be found in the Buckingham County Legislative Petitions. A group of citizens from Buckingham County expressed to the General Assembly their concerns about the rapid increase of the “colored population.” “We believe that it is necessary to take the subject into consideration and devise a plan that will quiet the fears of the people of this Commonwealth.” They argued that the recent “Southampton Massacre” proved that their fears were well-founded. The citizens of Buckingham County offered statistical evidence to show that by 1900 the colored population would outnumber the white population four to one. The petitioners offered a plan to the General Assembly that would decrease the colored population in Virginia by transporting them to Africa. This plan, the petitioners pointed out, was advocated by Thomas Jefferson whom they quoted several times in the petition. The citizens of Buckingham County demanded that the General Assembly act quickly: “We also believe that if this subject be delayed much longer, that it will not be in the power of the Commonwealth ever to get rid of the evil of which we complain.”

Out of the Box will keep you informed of when legislative petitions from new localities will become available. Also, see these earlier blog posts for more information on the Legislative Petitions Digital Collection.